Historic Downtown Sheridan is thriving,New owners preserve history

SHERIDAN — When downtown Sheridan’s picturesque Main Street was built, its classic brick buildings were seen as lasting legacies in a community that had staying power. After a few ups and downs, Main Street Sheridan is stronger than ever, thanks to a new state highway reconstruction, a continuing Main Street Program, and a host of plucky new owners determined to preserve the grandeur of the past while meeting today’s building standards. Kristi and Greg Von Krosigk are good examples. A year ago they purchased the former Trail Hotel on South Main and are renovating it to preserve and enhance its historic architecture while modernizing it internally. “Our goal is to improve the historical value of downtown Sheridan, because there are so many wonderful buildings and we want to preserve some of that,” said Kristi Von Krosigk. “That’s why we’ve tried to make things historically accurate. But also to bring businesses that want to be here and stay downtown.” Their story is repeated up and down Sheridan’s Main Street, according to Roger Bent, director of the Downtown Sheridan Association. “Our downtown is very healthy right now, only one or two vacancies maybe,” Bent said, “but in the mid-1980s, after Wal-Mart opened, downtown Sheridan was a pretty scary place, like so many across the state during that time. “Then we just started seeing people, mainly come-backers, kids who had grown up here, been out in the world and made some money and they knew what they wanted to do. They came back and bought these buildings and started little businesses.” The “come-backers” were helped by the fact that Sheridan still had an active Main Street program. Sheridan was one of the original Main Street programs, and when the money for the program ran out, Sheridan managed to keep its program going. “That encouraged the property owners as they saw one after another of these downtown businesses close, they would come in and they would start something new and better,” Bent said. “We essentially filled this downtown with that type of tenant.” Last year, Main Street was rebuilt by the Wyoming Department of Transportation, a project Bent called “the smoothest one I’ve ever seen.” This year, his association is encouraging “second-story development,” which converts vacant second and third floors above retail stores into living quarters. “Second-story development is a great thing and it’s starting to happen,” Bent said. “We have literally tens of thousands of square feet of unoccupied second floors, and one by one people are getting into that mode of wanting to live downtown, and the property owners are saying, ‘Hey, let’s get that shaped up.’” The Von Krosigks have 12 apartments in their building, along with an architect and designer’s office on the ground floor. “Kristi and Greg are a great example,” Bent said. “They came to town, they knew what they wanted to do and how they wanted to do it and they found a building and did it.” The Trail Hotel was built in the 1920s and the Von Krosigks have tried to restore its exterior with a new façade and awnings and new windows and doors “We’ve tried to update things to bring some character back to it,” Kristi said. They have had help from their downstairs tenants, Ed and Lesley Mohns Armstrong. Ed is an architect and Lesley is a designer, and they have suggested improvements that both improve the building’s appearance and functionality. The Armstrongs, meanwhile, have done some massive remodeling of their own on the interior of the main level. They have their offices on one side and are developing the other side for a retail showroom. “It’s just an amazing transformation,” Kristi said. The Von Krosigks moved to Sheridan a year ago from Laramie. “We just felt this was a place we wanted to come to raise our family, and we’ve always had an interest in preserving old buildings,” Kristi said. “We owned an old building in Laramie and one of the things that piqued our interest here was another opportunity to own an old building and fix it up.” Their efforts generally have worked out to their satisfaction. “This isn’t the first time we’ve done this so we knew what to expect,” she said. “With old architecture, you’re always faced with challenges that can slow the progress. “But the satisfaction of seeing something change and then seeing the appreciation from tenants and having other people comment, that pays off and balances the frustrations that go along with renovation.” The Von Krosigks also are involved with partners in another construction project on Sugarview Drive in Sheridan. Sheridan-based Deerwood Design and Construction LLC, a spin-off company from Laramie-based Deerwood Log Homes, is a partner in, and the contractor for, the construction of the custom crafted log professional office building which is designed to compliment Sheridan’s western heritage. Greg is a partner in the law firm of Pence and MacMillan and will operate the firm’s Sheridan office out of one of the building suites together with another local attorney and project partner, Brian Beisher. The partners will rent the remaining suites out to others who want to share in the western flavor of this unique office building. Even though the Von Krosigks are involved in new construction, their hearts are never far from downtown Sheridan.”I just like the appearance of old, historic downtowns,” said Kristi, who serves on the DSA board. “I like to think about ways we can improve them.